Motor Veils

Veils04The first cars were open and created special problems for women with big hats and big hair. For those who didn’t want to change their style and don boyish caps, the solution was to wear a veil. I no longer remember where I found this illustration (a crime akin to grand theft for a historian), but it was too interesting not to share.

In 1911, a reader of Good Housekeeping sent in this advice to the magazine: “In the side pockets of the automobile I always keep several folded motor veils with a few veil pins stuck through them, ready to offer anyone we may happen to take on a ride unexpectedly…An acquaintance always has a chiffon veil tucked inside the crown of her hat. The small roll takes up no room, and when she is asked to ride home from a place, she can make her hat secure and thus thoroughly enjoy herself.” (Good Housekeeping, July 1911, 138.) Always be prepared!

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3 Responses to Motor Veils

  1. Robert Moeller says:

    I wonder if the French parliament would ban the motor veil today. (http://www.theguardian.com/world/french-burqa-and-niqab-ban)

  2. Lizzie says:

    I see these in vintage photos from time to time, but have never seen an actual motoring veil outside of a museum. Or perhaps I have, and simply failed to recognize the rolled chiffon for what it actually was.

  3. eimear says:

    not quite of the same era, but it reminds me of the movie when Diane Keaton (I think) gets in a convertible car with Jack Nicolson, trying to show what a sophisticate she is by wearing a head scarf so her hair does not get ruined …. and of course he drives before giving her time to arrange it (the cad)…..

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